Early Days

Pat Meehan Sr. had worked in the label business for eleven years. He had always been very dedicated to his work. Pat, with encouragement from his wife Carol, discussed the possibility of starting his own label company.

In the spring of 1976, Pat and Carol Meehan put those words into action, and started MR Label Co. For the next 33 years they worked side by side with the growing company. For the first three years, the company operated out of their basement. It held the office, raw stock, inventory and shipping department. It was most certainly not an easy ride, but one with new adventures at every turn.

In the beginning, Carol worked from that basement office as their accountant and customer service representative, while raising four young children. Pat spent most of his days making outside sales calls, working to develop the business. His evenings were spent doing estimates, layout sheets and entering those precious orders.

Great Growth

Astonishingly, the couple was able to run MR Label Co. out of their basement from 1976 to 1979 without any presses. MR Label Co. developed close relationships with offset, screen and flexographic label printers as well as prepress companies for artwork, filmwork, flexo plates and screens. The only equipment they owned in those early years was finishing equipment (a guillotine, back splitter, and die cutter).

First Five Years

The first five years MR Label Co. was in business were the most difficult for Pat and Carol, as they worked to establish their company. In 1979, the couple was able to purchase their first screen printing press, and moved into space they rented behind a bar called Tiny Bubbles, in Mt. Airy, OH. The small warehouse only had 900 square feet, but the couple put every inch of it to good use. After becoming a corporation in 1981, the company bought its first flexographic printing press and that forced them to purchase a building in the Northside section of Cincinnati.

The First Facility

This was a big step for MR Label Co. Pat had experience in marketing, estimating and selling labels, but knew nothing about running the presses that produce them. This did not hinder their success at all; rather it gave Pat another challenge. With the help from old friends in the label business and new friends in Printing Industries of America, MR Label Co. became a manufacturer of screen-printed and flexographic printed labels. This also led to the development of a great relationship with Cincinnati State, a local college. MR Label Co. became its first co-op partner for their “Flexographic Printing Program.”

MR Label Co. has worked closely with that department and the instructors at Cincinnati State, even training them on presses, and has greatly influenced their printing program. As a result, MR Label Co. continues to hire qualified co-op students from Cincinnati State, and continues to give back to help enrich the development of the program.

A Full In-House Operation

In 1987, MR Label Co. became a fully in-house operational label company, after replacing its conventional photographic camera and plate making equipment with state-of-the-art computer driven digital equipment. It added new and larger screen-printing and flexographic printing presses as the needs of its client base continued to grow.

In 1990, MR Label Co. moved into its current facility with 19,000 square feet, still in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Pat and Carol retired in 2008 but have left the business in the capable hands of their children, Kathy, Pat Jr., Tim, and Brigid, who literally grew up around the business. They all spent their summers in the shop helping in any way they could, and upon college graduation they worked full time. (Kathy did not stay with the family company, but pursued her dreams of becoming a doctor.)